From the mid-1930s onward for over 10 years, a general interest column, “Wandering with Walter Jack,” appeared in the Erie Daily Times. It was a popular feature, often appearing once to three times a week. The column documented local history as well as significant events within the regional community.
Walter Eugene Jack (1883–1966) was a dedicated historian and photographer from Ashtabula County, Ohio. Born on January 31, 1883, in Pierpont, Ohio, he became renowned for his extensive work in preserving and documenting county histories, especially in northeastern Ohio and into northwestern Pennsylvania. Jack’s historical writings were featured in 16 newspapers across the eastern United States, and his photography captured numerous significant local landmarks and events. A 1953 Erie Daily Times article describes Walter as “a remarkable man…It would take an ordinary person two hundred years to acquire the knowledge and friends Walter has…Some men have made a million bucks. Others have become successful politicians. But none of them can hold a candle to Walter Jack.” In recognition of his invaluable contributions, he became the only honorary member of the Ashtabula County Historical Society. To commemorate his legacy, the Society’s genealogical library was named the Walter Jack Memorial Library.
And so it was that on May 26, 1939, readers of Wanderings in the Erie Daily Times learned about a visit planned to Howard Falls by noted geologist Dr. Kenneth Edward Caster (1908-1992) and his doctoral student Wilson Morrow Laird (1915-1997), both of the University of Cincinnati in Ohio. This visit was newsworthy for several reasons, including that the Falls had become well-known locally due to the events held there in the 1930s by the Sportsmen’s Club of Erie, which often drew thousands to its annual Members’ Day. Additionally, Wilson Laird was a local, having been born on March 4, 1915, in Erie. He graduated from Muskingum College in New Concord, Ohio, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Geology in 1936 and obtained a Master of Arts degree from the University of North Carolina in 1938. Under the guidance of Dr. Caster, he went on to receive his PhD from the University of Cincinnati in 1942. His doctoral dissertation was entitled “The Stratigraphy of the Upper Devonian and Lower Mississippian of Southwestern Pennsylvania.” After graduation, Laird relocated to North Dakota and eventually became the State Geologist there.
Dr. Castor was raised in Ithaca, NY, and received his Bachelor’s degree from Cornell University in 1929, his Master’s degree from Cornell in 1931, and his PhD in 1933, under the tutelage of the renowned paleontologist Gilbert Dennison Harris (1864-1952). Dr. Harris was born in Jamestown, Chautauqua, NY, and received his degrees from Cornell, where he became a full professor in 1909.
Unsurprisingly, all of these learned men, who were born and raised along the southern shores of Lake Erie, were interested in the region’s Devonian shale and the stories it can tell from its Paleontology and Stratigraphy. With its exposed layers of shale, Howard Falls and the Falls Run Gorge created the perfect environment to pique their professional interests.
And so Walter Jack met Dr. Castor and Mr. Laird at Howard Falls on Saturday, May 27, 1939. During the meeting, they explored the area and pointed out interesting fossils to Mr. Jack. In his Wanderings column that appeared a few days later on May 30, Jack recounts some of those notable fossil features, including a silica glass sponge that dated “back a third of a billion years where there was a shallow sea covering the local area,” two or three impressions of a horseshow crab first discovered here about 1898 by another famed Cornell University geologist, Henry Shaler Williams (1847-1918). They went on to point out that while clams are absent from the fossil record at Howard Falls, a fossil type known as butterfly stones is present, which also has two shells. Interesting evidence of all this was found in the Howard quarry area.
In addition, they showed Jack evidence of waves’ action on the ancient inland sea, which is seen in the rocks at Howard’s quarry. Even a change in the wind can be detected in layers of sediment in the rocks.
The Wanderings series by Walter Jack is a rich repository of local history and events. The visit of Dr. Castor and Mr. Laird in 1939, Dr. Gilbert Harris’s interest in the area around 1918, and Dr. Williams’s earlier visit in 1898 might have been lost to history without Walter Jack’s dedication to publishing “Wanderings.” Enjoy the article Walter Jack published on May 30, 1939 about his visit:
We are still trying to find a photo of Aunt Melinda’s stone at Cornell. (Note: Ellen Melinda Burton was born in 1820 and died at the age of 106 in 1926, so the story pans out.) But in the meantime, be sure to read our earlier blog, “Early Scientific Research and Howard Falls,” for more insight into other professionals who could not resist the lure of Howard Falls and the Falls Run Gorge, including:
1881: Dr. Israel Charles White
1891: Natural History Society of Erie
1910: Edwin James Armstrong
DDHoward
April 2025